Bicycling

[BrendonMyb]

Have to agree, in the earlier posts someone mentioned the Matt Damon article.

 

IMHO - Tacky

 

Im a guy for heavens sake & definately not interested in some male celeb & how he got hounded down & by "luck" got pinned whilst trying to fix the bike

 

What a waste of money & Ride was by far more "Brain food" & entertaining.

[Tumbleweed]

Mmm not often you get to hear the skinner about yourself' date=' it is actually quite refreshing when people aren't trying to present themselves well. Speaking as the editor of Ride, I have to say that I have NEVER had to print a bogus letter. The Q&As are an entirely different matter. We get hundreds of "which bike should I buy?", or problems that require a bit of negotiation out of the public eye, but not much else. Not even pretty attractive prizes seem to help! Now we use syndicated Q&As (see the licensing info on the masthead) because they cover a range of topics, can be customised for local applications, and please our readers who don't like the long articles. In this case I believe the source is less important than the quality, but clearly there are other points of view? [/quote']

 

nice post!

 

oh, look, gerhardc, here's me standing up for yet another fellow journo on the hub?

holy roller2009-04-07 04:30:10

[slowgo]

I think it was a bag full of s%%t a waste

[Shebeen]

Speaking as the editor of Ride

 

Wonderful to get the answer from the horse's mouth so to speak. I hope at least some of this 10pager is constructive input for you (as well as Tim and Sean).

 

Last time I emailed Adele, I had to buy Ride to see her reply. That's good business sense I tell you!

[GoLefty!!]

bicycling, Ride, Mountain Biker they all have their issues... (intentional pun)

 

Tread's Launch issue seems ok with good photo's, nice paper.

But one problem stands out amongst all the mags, the quality of the articles.

 

I do understand the problems the editors face and finding people with writing talent as well as MTB skills is quite difficult.

 

I jst think that if they paid R500 per article (published) then they would have more to draw from and their work would be editorial and less account management.

 

that my 2p

[NotSoBigBen]

I must admit that' date=' after reading some of the posts over the last few days, I was tempted to bring the HLO out of retirement.  [/quote']

 

Didn't think the HLO would stick ......

[Danger Dassie]

I think the quality of writing in general is great, the articles are sourced from talented writers.

On the whole though, local cycling publications do tend to fall down with content, not just writing but photos as well. It's more apparent when there is good and bad content next to one another on the same publication.

The problem seems to be more of consistency, which is often due to financial pressures as well. Although not restricted to cyclling publications theres a reliance on freebie contributors for content, which depending on the attitude of the editor who is often under pressure from the bean counters, also puts pressure on paid contributors who are professionals in their respective field.

Because 'anyone' can write or take a picture.

 

On a side note, writers are paid per word for editorial content, not per article. Not many qualified people (formaly or otherwise) would pen a 600-800 word article for 500zar.

 

My personal feeling is that the only way so-called 'niche' market publications can make it laocally is to be independant from the large publishing houses.

The demise of Blunt Mag could be a good example for a case study as well as SL Mag who has now gone independant.

[Hairy]

HI Danger Dassie

 

 

 

Your last 204word post would have earned you roughly a wopping 150Z.A.R based on the previous earnings estimate

 

 

 

Hairy

[Brakkies Sport Fotos]

I was a subscriber with Bicycling as well and my subscription ended March, I think. They send me a letter informing if I want to renew, and they call me, I?m not going to renew.

 

 

 

I got the latest as well, looked at the front page, saw the zipp of the girl pulled down? But she got nothing to look at.

 

 

 

Sex sells ? But just make sure its worth looking at first.

 

 

 

My biggest gripe with this is that a certain % off content is international news (70%), than you get some 20% ads, a couple off soapy stories to try and win a set of wheels and shimano shoes. When last did you read a tip that?s worth a pair of shoes ?

 

 

 

Nothing, but nothing that really sits close to me and you, the normal cyclist looking for stories closer at home. Its like the Epic highlights, ?you only see the podium finishers and a couple of top dogs?

 

 

 

They missed the heart and sole of the Epic, so does BICYCLING.

 

 

 

And lastly, I?m still amazed that they published were you can buy these magazines and a hell of a lot (a) have moved with different tel. numbers (b) and others has closed down.

 

 

 

For me, it?s a complete waste of money and I will rather buy it from the shelve when it looks interesting.

 

 

[Marius]

I'm getting letters to renew my subscription, problem is I don' t know which subscription they talking about cuz I'm getting THREE Bicycling Mags in my <?: prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />PO Box every month...<?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

And yes, I just look at the pictures and then toss it away. Al least the Ride mag post a pic of me and Lilo every month, I think I?ll keep buying the Ride:-D

 

[Spinnekop]

Well said Popeye!!!!

[Brakkies Sport Fotos]

So what?s close to us?

 

 

 

Cycling clubs ? Why don?t they take on a monthly basis a CSA club from each province and do a proper article, telling the cycling community more about the different (please not another C L club article)

 

 

 

Why don?t they get a article on club fees , club kit fees , club rides etc= to tell readers were is the best value for money per club

 

 

 

When last did you see a proper insert from CSA updating cyclist on the latest and maybe way forward, what CSA are planning for the future etc. (I?m not talking about putting a article of the chair person in, but CSA Cycling matters)

 

 

 

When last did you see something good about the PPA Funride League races ETC

 

 

 

Why don?t you read anything interesting about the various PPA Orginizations,

 

 

 

Not everyone got internet to go read website.

 

 

 

100?s of readers is from areas where they still use the ?slinger? telephone, the Internet is just something they read about in newspapers

 

 

[jamex]

I got coned into renew my subscription at the Argus, as they where giving a set of tyres if you renewed there.Well few minutes later i found out that it was only 1 tyre in the box. Chap wasn't very helpful as wanted cancel the renewal.Shouldn't of been a problem as i paid cash all he had to do was cancel the order!

[specialized7]

Absolute cr*p!!!! Nothing wrong with the paper though, although maybe to hard to use as toilet paper.

[Beanie]

but wasn't Sean badenhorst till recently consulting editor on Bicycling? Hopefully he does a better job with his own mag?

[porky]

I jst think that if they paid R500 per article (published) then they would have more to draw from and their work would be editorial and less account management.

 

I agree, although I doubt heavily there is one niche market magazine in SA that pays for a freelance article or photo spread - It seems the attitude here is "we will do you a favour by publishing the article / photo."

 

Some years ago I worked as a consultant to a USA based company in my spare time via the internet, basically, I would SIMPLY answer a few e-mails a day giving advice / suggestions on certain matters relating to my profession.

 

I was handsomely renumerated on a weekly basis for my time.

 

Naively, thinking this could be benificial to the profession here, I contacted a few trade specific periodicals with the suggestion and my offer of FREE advice - note "FREE" - not one decided to take me up - although I must say one did suggest "I PAY THEM" a consulting fee for forwarding queries.

 

.............but thats SA nobody wants to pay for squat, hense the poor quality of most articles in these mags.